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Archive for March, 2014

ILX Visit to Palm Springs, California: Scott & Sandy’s Car Collection

Posted in California, ILX, Reader's Ride, Road Trip on March 9, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,906

Odometer (ILX): 69,807

Trip Distance: 562 Miles

Lydia’s glistening chrome bumper winked at me with a flash of reflective sunlight from the parking lot outside her garage. I approached her and admired her 225 inches of reflective Willow Mist metallic paint, highlighted by chrome trim that pierced my eyes with gleaming Palm Springs sunshine. Lydia was a sassy 1963 Buick Electra 225.

I gave the heavy driver’s door a tug and climbed inside, then took a deep breath while she transported me 51 years into the past. The switches, the fabrics, the smells — everything true and perfect according to factory-spec equipment. Then I looked down at the odometer showing only 20,223 miles. Lydia may have been half a century old, but it was as if her heart was that of a teenager.

You all know I get stir crazy if I don’t get out of the state often enough. I was way overdue for a long-distance drive since my last big one (trip to Utah) was a month ago. This time, I hopped in the Acura ILX and headed west instead of north. The destination? I was about to get an exclusive look at a classic car collection that belongs to my friends Scott and Sandy. And boy was I in for a treat.

My drive in the ILX was an easy one since Interstate 10 westbound would guide me to PSP from PHX without need for any other directions. I managed to pry myself away from the office a little early and set out on Friday afternoon toward a beautiful desert sunset. The next 5 hours were filled with music, contemplation, and some ILX photos / urban exploration as you saw from yesterday’s Drive to Five post.

Palm Springs is a desert oasis in southern California’s Coachella Valley. It’s home to fewer than 50,000 full-time residents but boasts a full roster of attractions that bring tourists year-round. Where else can you find a 26-foot-tall statue of Marilyn Monroe with a wind-ruffled dress?

Scott is a long-time friend of mine, but I think the last time I’d seen him was at the Metric Listening Event in Hollywood back in June 2012. Scott and I have a similar affinity for collecting automobiles. Our tastes, in fact, align on a couple of models specifically. Scott’s Formula Red 1992 Acura NSX is one example of real keeper that we both own and appreciate. His car’s production number, in fact, is just 26 digits off that of my NSX. However, the rest of his fleet is as diverse as they come – from a go-kart sized 1972 Honda Z600 to Lydia the Electra who nearly doubled the Honda’s length. I immediately felt at home in the 1965 Honda S600 Roadster.

After a brief tour of Scott and Sandy’s beautiful home, I rode with Scott in his Alfa Romeo to his storage location. As the large garage door rolled up, I realized I was standing before about 15 unique and rare vehicles. While the domestics and the Japanese were certainly well-represented, a couple of oddball cars rounded out the collection, including a 1985 Bertone Fiat X1/9. I had the distinct opportunity to drive several of the cars, so today I’ll share some of my impressions.

With its dash-mounted shift lever, the orange 1972 Honda Z600 struck me immediately as the ancestor to today’s Civic Si. Scott brought the 2-cylinder air-cooled engine to life with a few pumps of the engine primer. Yes, all 36 horses giddied-up enthusiastically. And for a car of that size, 36 is all it really takes! The clutch was stiff and it took a row or two through the gears to get acquainted with the 4-speed shift gate, but I felt right at home in that little rig in no time. The Z600 has a cozy cabin with no frills. Such simplicity is an attribute that I truly appreciate, especially in today’s world of driver assistance technology that goes so far that it often becomes invasive or detracts from a raw driving experience.

At the other end of the size spectrum, the 1966 Lincoln Continental was the first car I’ve ever driven with suicide doors. After watching its convertible top hide away mechanically in the trunk, I took the wheel and drove the 5,300 pound tank around the neighborhood. Except, it didn’t feel like it weighed nearly 3 tons. The car was remarkably light on its feet, and steering effort – well, let’s just say the car could be driven with just one pinky finger. For a big car, it had the skinniest steering wheel ever. It also seemed only fitting that Scott and I extended the retractable antenna and listened to an oldies station KWXY on the car’s AM radio while we cruised around Palm Springs. That drive was better than any history lesson I ever received in college.

My longest test-drive was in this 1977 Honda Civic CVCC. I love that Honda proudly badged the car “5-speed” on the rear hatch. Despite having sat for over a month, it purred flawlessly when Scott fired it up. The bright yellow coupe with a chrome bumper guard and roof rack grabbed a lot of attention on the road. The shifter and suspension performed so well that I would never believe they were parts of a nearly 40-year-old vehicle. It took me a minute to get used to the fact that there was no passenger sideview mirror. The CVCC brought a grin to my face as we drove it back from brunch.

Scott’s pride and joy is a green Honda N600 that was his first car. Though it sits half-covered up with expired plates and a flat tire, I could see the sparkle in his eye when he talked about the memories associated with that old Honda. He plans to treat that old car to a full restoration, and it won’t take much to get it back to showroom condition since like most California cars, the body is rust-free and the mechanicals are still solid.

Part of the intrigue about Scott and Sandy is that they gladly adopt vehicles that other car aficionados consider runts or outcasts. Consider the 1979 Mercury Bobcat (aka gussied-up Ford Pinto) in Tangerine paint with plaid seating and rally wheels, lovingly named Bob. Or the now-sold Cadillac Cimarron which proudly wore “WRSTCAD” license plates and won POS “Worst in Show” Concours d’LeMons. There’s something endearing about showing love for a car that nobody else seems to appreciate.

We closed the day out with a ride back to Scott’s place in the Emberglo Metallic (“don’t you dare call it brown!”) 1966 Mustang convertible with its potent 289 V8 and Pony Package. A classic Mustang is a true piece of Americana that every car collector should own at least once.

Huge thanks to Scott and Sandy for their incredible hospitality! Enjoy the rest of the pictures below, as well as a video showing start-up of a few of the cars in the collection.

Scott, Tyson, Sandy

Scott’s answer to, “How do you keep track of all the car keys?!”

1985 Honda CRX Si

1959 Mercury Park Lane

Mercury interior

No such thing as too much chrome here.

Meet Lydia, the Buick Electra from my opening paragraph.

And Lydia’s interior, complete with a dealer-installed tissue dispenser (the chrome box underneath the dash/glove compartment).

I loved the 1966 Lincoln dash with its driver-oriented instrument layout. Even the cruise control was set up as a dial. The speedometer worked like a thermometer, with a strip of numbers and a red bar that would extend across them to indicate the speed.

Suicide doors, anyone?

The car that needs no introduction. Just 45,000 miles on this 5-speed beauty. It’s also one of only 421 cars that were produced in this color /transmission combination for the year.

The Bertone X 1/9 is a mid-engine rig that’s in stunning condition for its age.

Along with the cars, Scott and Sandy have a lot of old literature and advertising.

Scott’s favorite (at least I kind of got that vibe) was the 1965 Honda S600 Coupe. Right hand drive. It was fun watching him squeeze into the driver’s seat before firing it up!

Front of the S600 Coupe.

Another S600 in the collection, this time a Roadster, started out as a project car but has finished beautifully. Scott showed me some ‘before’ pictures from a photo album.

“After”

Loved that there were unique switches on the dash for headlights and marker lights.

1976 Cadillac Seville – the first year for that model. This example has only 40,000 miles on it. It had a characteristic smell.

This 1969 Lincoln Continental Mark III is literally one-of-a-kind. It’s the only one that was built in this configuration, color, and trim without a vinyl roof. The car stickered at $8,356 when it was new.

Bobcat interior – thanks Sandy for sending this, as I forgot to take one! That plaid is factory original!

Interior of the 1977 Civic. Exactly as it was intended to be, right down to the AM radio.

Here’s the 2-cylinder air-cooled engine that powers the Z600.

Taking the Z for a spin.

After our full day of test drives, I headed back to Phoenix but stopped in Blythe, California per Scott’s recommendation. For any who ever travel the Interstate 10 corridor, remember this place! It’s called Courtesy Diner and it’s a must-visit.

I was craving a grilled cheese and a bowl of homemade chili. Both hit the spot.

I even got a smiley face on my bill when the total came out to $10.01.

Hope you enjoyed coming along!

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Photoset: 2013 Acura ILX in the Arizona-California Desert Corridor

Posted in Arizona, California, Ghost Town, ILX, Road Trip on March 8, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 69,800

“We seem to have a problem. We’re running low on petrol.” These words were spoken to me yesterday in broken English from a French tourist who had honked the horn of his white rental car to get my attention. I’d been minding my own business getting some quality sunset shots of the ILX at an abandoned service station when my focus was interrupted with a horn honk that nearly sent me jumping sky-high.

Unfortunately for my fellow traveler, Interstate 10 is a lonely place when it comes to services. The station we were standing in front of had been shuttered for easily a few decades. The metal Chevron pumps out front looked like they belonged in a museum somewhere – weathered examples of a motoring era years in the past.

“Well, you’re 40 miles from Blythe to the east,” I told him, “and probably 20 miles from Chiriaco Summit to the west.” As the sun continued to dip lower on the horizon, I could sense the urgency in his voice as he debated his options. I encouraged him to continue toward Blythe. His Nissan Versa couldn’t possibly need more than a gallon and a half to go those 40 miles, right? I now wonder if he was able to make it.

Today I’ll share a few of the pictures from my drive toward California yesterday in the 2013 Acura ILX.

First up, how could I have passed by this roadside attraction so many times in the past and never stopped to appreciate it? A stagecoach stop that bears my own first name. Located in Quartzsite at the far western end of Interstate 10 in Arizona, Tyson’s Well dates back to the 1870s and provided traveler accommodations.

Just down the road, the Tyson Mobile Home & RV Park greeted me with a larger-than-life sign with my name on it.

I’m ready to move right on in.

And finally, that fated location where my French friend pulled off the interstate in hopes of finding his petrol. Well, he wasn’t going to find any at this 24-hour service station. In fact, I’m pretty sure this one was a “zero”-hour service station in Desert Center, California. The pumps were long gone.

Down the road, the Family Cafe lingered as a memory of days gone by. Miraculously, vandals have left the old fuel equipment alone and all the building’s windows remained intact.

Red, white, and blue. These must have looked nice when they were fresh & new.

I could sure have gone for a gourmet meal, but I think the kitchen’s closed.

I suppose you could take a picnic lunch, though, since this old wooden table out front appeared serviceable.

Think they sold 91 octane here?

A bit further west down the old frontage road (which pre-dated I-10 by a long shot), I found a third abandoned station. A skeleton of what was once the sign out front doesn’t give us any clues about the brand of fuel that was sold here.

I stepped inside for a look at the amenities.

Windows were broken out, but by golly, the view was stunning. Better than the view from my office, in fact. Maybe I could telecommute from Desert Center?

Great fixer-upper!

One-stop shopping.

The old wooden guard rails on this bridge could use a new coat of paint.

Nighttime took over as I continued westbound.

Come back tomorrow for a detailed look at one of the most eclectic car collections I’ve ever visited, in Palm Springs, California. You’re going to want to see this!

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Announcement: 10th Annual NALM Dates & Location

Posted in NALM on March 7, 2014 by tysonhugie

Since 2005, the National Acura Legend Meet has been the go-to event of the year for Legend enthusiasts. Each year, local ground teams in prospective host cities prepare bids to bring the event to their hometowns. Pictured above is the crew from Las Vegas, Nevada during the 2007 meet. This year, the bid was awarded to the team in Los Angeles, California, and the event will be held July 24-28 (Thursday – Monday), 2014. You can bet I’ll be there!

Previous NALM locations:

Dallas, Texas (2005)
Tulsa, Oklahoma (2006)
Las Vegas, Nevada (2007)
Chattanooga, Tennessee (2008)
Branson, Missouri (2009)
Salt Lake City, Utah (2010)
Morristown, New Jersey (2011)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012)
Asheville, North Carolina (2013)

I’ve attended every event. The only one that I didn’t drive my 1994 Legend to was Milwaukee, since I wanted to take my then-brand-new 2013 ILX on its first cross-country drive.

Each year, Legend owners from around the country rally together at NALM for scenic drives, photoshoots, dealership-sponsored BBQs, and performance events like dyno testing and autocross races. Here are some photos from NALMs prior. And, a 5-year-old flashback video to that one time when I threw my car around an autocross track at NALM 2009 in Missouri. Those Michelin tires have never seen so much action!

This year’s trip will be a breeze. It’s only 372 miles (5 hours, 20 minutes) from Phoenix to LA via Interstate 10. Quite a change from last year’s jaunt to North Carolina & back!

One very special feature of this year’s program will be an opening ceremony inside Honda’s exclusive & private Collection Hall in Torrance. Those of you who have followed me since the Drive to Five Celebration in late 2011 will remember that my Legend got to be parked inside the Collection Hall for the day, after our red carpet reception at Honda/Acura headquarters down the street.

Stay tuned for more details. A full thread will soon be posted on the AcuraLegend.org forums by the ground team members who have worked hard to create a crowd-pleasing event. It will contain a detailed itinerary as well as registration information. I’ll be sure and share the information with you all as soon as I have it.

Have a great weekend!

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Throwback Thursday: College Days at USU

Posted in Legend, Throwback, Utah on March 6, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,849

Odometer (ILX): 69,158

You know, I haven’t always lived where the palm trees grow. From 2004-2005, I resided in the far northern reaches of Utah where people actually experience four distinct seasons, unlike in Arizona. I earned my undergraduate degree at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. USU was established in 1888 as a small agricultural college but today has multiple campuses and a total student body of over 28,000.

“Old Main” is the oldest building on campus, which dates back to 1890. This photo was taken in August 2005.

In July 2012, my brand new ILX took its first trip to Logan.

Logan is about 80 miles north of Salt Lake City, and only 19 miles from the Idaho state line.

I had every intention of keeping my prized (then sub-150k mile) 1994 Legend out of the snow. I even bought a “winter beater” – a friend’s 1991 Legend L coupe 5-speed with 186,600 miles on it. Here’s a shot from October 30, 2004 – the very important key hand-off photo. He sold me the car for only $700.

It’s hard to believe that was 10 years ago. I wasted no time in getting the car cleaned up. It was fun to have two Legend coupes for awhile. Check out my dad’s collection of antlers in the garage!

I put that Charcoal Granite Metallic 1991 coupe to good use at college. I hauled hundreds of pounds of canned goods during a local Thanksgiving food drive. It was riding low on the suspension with all that weight in the interior & trunk.

Thanksgiving 2004 with my friend Heidi in Nephi, Utah on the way back to college after the holiday. Yes, those are 17″ wheels off a 2002 Lexus IS300.

Frosty winter morning in Cache Valley, northern Utah.

Unfortunately, my time with that particular coupe was cut short when it overheated on a date and blew the engine’s head gasket later that same year. At one time, I also had a 1991 Honda Prelude Si 4WS that I used in the wintertime.

Eventually, though, the 1994 Legend did have to report for snow duty. And it surely did endure some extreme weather. These were taken during & after one particular snowstorm in the winter of 2004-05.

Thank goodness for front-wheel-drive and a heavy car. The Legend did great in the snow.

Digging out

The good news is that during those winters, I lived close enough to campus to walk there and I didn’t have to deal with icy road conditions on a daily basis. Even though I don’t miss the weather, I do miss the sense of community and school spirit that was overflowing at Utah State University. Go Aggies!

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History Lesson: National Maximum Speed Limit

Posted in Misc Travel on March 4, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,802

Odometer (ILX): 69,050

I saw the below picture shared on Instagram recently. It’s a high-mileage odometer shot from an older Honda Civic “Wagovan,” so naturally I was quite interested and I immediately liked the photo. But, what caught me off-guard was one of the comments from this person’s followers.

“What’s the marker at 55 for?” Oh, these young ones need to be educated!

What we’re talking about here is the National Maximum Speed Limit Law. Enacted in 1974 in the United States, it prohibited highway speeds above 55 miles per hour. The hope of legislators (Richard Nixon signed the provision) was that the gas savings would be substantial. This was a time when gas shortages were at high tide.

As an emergency response to the 1973 oil crisis, on November 26, 1973, President Richard Nixon proposed a national 50 mph (80 km/h) speed limit for passenger vehicles and a 55 mph speed limit for trucks and buses. That, combined with a ban on ornamental lighting, no gasoline sales on Sunday, and a 15% cut in gasoline production, were proposed to reduce total gas consumption by 200,000 barrels a day, representing a 2.2% drop from annualized 1973 gasoline consumption levels.Nixon partly based this on a belief that cars achieve maximum efficiency between 40 and 50 mph and that trucks and buses were most efficient at 55 mph.

Man, I’m sure glad I wasn’t of driving age in the 1970s and 1980s to experience this! Did you also know that between 1979 and 1981, federal legislation required that speedometers could only go up to 85 mph?

The National Maximum Speed Limit law saw some changes in the late 1980s, and in 1995 it was overturned entirely, giving speed-limit-setting power to the individual states. Today, speed limits vary widely. Rural stretches of Interstate 15 in my home state of Utah are now 80 miles per hour, and there’s a 41-mile stretch of toll road in Texas with an 85 mile per hour limit. That’s quick!

Now you know 🙂

Tonight, my friend Justin and I attended the Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Clippers basketball game at a Kia-sponsored event. The view of the court was pretty sweet from our suite.

Though the game’s 104-to-96 Clippers win outcome was disappointing for us Suns fans, the company was great. The other event invitees were fellow automotive journalists based in the Phoenix area.

I also had the privilege of meeting Orth Hedrick, Vice President of Product Planning at Kia.

Thanks to the folks at Kia for the invite!

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ILX Drive: Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona

Posted in Arizona, ILX, Road Trip on March 2, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,752

Odometer (ILX): 68,931

Trip Distance: 242 Miles

Would you get claustrophobic like me if you had to live inside an enclosed greenhouse for 2 years?

Imagine a self-contained world: a giant bubble that’s capable of supporting life as we know it. Welcome to Biosphere 2. Surprisingly few people have heard of a place in southern Arizona that 20 years ago was home to such an experiment. Now owned by the University of Arizona Science Department, Biosphere 2 is a research facility that was built as a closed ecological system – the largest of its kind. Biosphere 1, for those who are probably wondering like I was, is our own earth.

Yesterday’s outing may have been the largest I’ve organized to date. It was attended by 15 of my friends in 8 separate (and very diverse!) vehicles. After assembling at my place in Scottsdale, Arizona, we set out in the following caravan of vehicles. It made for a nice parade.

2013 Acura ILX
1995 Acura Legend
2013 Audi RS5
2013 Audi S5
1997 BMW 740 iL
2013 Cadillac SRX
2000 Honda Accord
2013 Nissan 370Z

Kevin, Edward, and Cole rode along with me in the ILX. I felt like the car actually handled better with the additional weight in there! Despite the rain and wet roads, we made pretty good time in getting to Oracle, Arizona via historic Highway 79 which led us to the southeast from the Phoenix Valley. After checking in, we were assigned to the 1:30 p.m. tour group and took a few minutes to visit the on-site cafe.

Constructed from 1987 to 1991, Biosphere 2 covers 3.14 acres. Two missions were conducted in Biosphere 2 in the 1990s. The first, from 1991 to 1993, and the second from March 1994 through September 1994. Biosphere contains 5 different indoor biomes: Desert, Savanna, Rainforest, Ocean, and Marsh. During our 90-minute tour, we were shown through each of these by our guide, Ren.

Ren told us there there was a division among the 8 “Biospherians” who participated in the first mission which lasted two years. Four of them wanted to allow the import of outside food & materials so that they could focus more on conducting science experiments and less on just trying to survive. The other four wanted to stay true to the design of the experiment and be entirely self-sufficient. The rift escalated. Along with that, heightened levels of CO2 were taking their toll on everyone’s critical thinking skills, and a change in climate in some of the biomes (increasing moisture in the desert, for example), caused an overrun of insects. Finally, the caloric intake was low so the diet wasn’t very good. Some of these challenges are what drove that mission to its end.

Today, Biosphere 2 is a research facility used to study ecosystem processes under controlled conditions. The University of Arizona operates it with the intent of better understanding how natural environments generate conditions that are suitable for life. The overall goal is to improve the quality of life for us. I found the tour educational and interesting. After filling our brains with science, we hopped into our cars and traveled 9 miles to the Oracle Inn Steakhouse to fill our stomachs with some of the best grub in central Arizona. Our last stretch of road took us up Highway 77 to Highway 177 to the old mining town of Superior.

Cole took DJ duties for most of our two-hour trip back to the Phoenix area, and we rocked out to slow jams like the classic 1997 K-Ci & JoJo hit, “All My Life.” The ILX 7-speaker Premium Audio System was put to its limit while we sang along. Many thanks to all my friends who joined on this adventure, in person or through the blog!

Below are all the pictures and a short video that I hope you’ll enjoy.

Pre-departure and my driveway/street started looking like a used car lot with more than a dozen cars parked all over the place.

Eastbound US 60, in hot pursuit of Aaron in the S5.

My crew in the ILX: Kevin, Cole, Edward

Upon arrival in Oracle, the rains held up long enough for us to enjoy our tour without getting too wet.

Oddball fleet of cars. Michael’s BMW, at over 280,000 miles, was the mileage king. Also, apparently Joe didn’t get the memo about needing to back his Legend in for the photoshoot.

Sexy hind ends.

ILX, Z, and a couple of Audis that have way more horsepower than they know what to do with.

Checking into the Visitor Center. Student tickets were $15 ea.

I think we may have overwhelmed the staff with our large group.

We were shown a 12-minute video before being introduced to our tour guide and heading into the facility.

Ren, our guide, used a portable mic and told us all the details about the facility and its operations.

The ocean, pictured far in the distance below, is 26 feet deep and holds 670,000 gallons of water.

Adjacent to that, we walked through a plastic curtain and into the biome known as the rainforest.

The rainforest has a waterfall and over 90 different plant species. We could readily feel the difference in humidity as we entered this area.

Next we went through a mangrove forest and down into the desert. Ren told us about the large “air handlers” that regulate the flow of air into this part of the Biosphere. They are disguised to look like caves.

Our next stop was the basement.

My favorite part was when we walked through this tunnel that seemed to get smaller and smaller as we walked onward. Someone commented that it felt like a scene from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

Soon, we had to duck and watch our heads as we went through a triangle shaped opening.

Here we are arriving inside one of two “lungs” in the facility. These are air-volume control devices. There is a 20+ ton metal saucer in the middle of the room, connected to the surrounding walls by a rubber curved ceiling. The entire ceiling can move up and down to regulate the volume of air within Biosphere.

It felt like a scene from outer space.

To get to the outside world from there, we had to pass through two “air lock” doors. Each time, a huge gust of wind would hit us in the face as the pressure inside the Biosphere started regulating with the pressure from outside.