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Tiny Travels, Home Improvements, and Vigor Auction Underway

Posted in Brochures, House, ILX, Legend, NALM, Vigor on July 11, 2020 by tysonhugie

Hello from Hell-o.

No, seriously. It’s 115 degrees outside and it feels about like you would expect for AZ in mid-July. At least it was my washing machine that decided to bite the dust this week instead of my air conditioning unit.

I’ve been cooped up a bit and needed to stretch my road trip legs again, so yesterday I took the Legend coupe on a 200-miler through the desert west of Phoenix. It was a pretty simple little loop that provided a nice getaway.

The highlight, of course, involved food. I had to sample the Green Chile Burger at a little drive-in called Screamer’s that I saw featured in a news article not long ago. I ate indoors – I don’t think they do in-car service at this drive-in, at least not this time of year. And the burger was everything it was cracked up to be. It feels like a special treat to eat like that nowadays, because my diet has changed a lot now that I’m eating at home. I’ve lost 15 lbs this year.

I might have also lost something else this year – a little bit of what sanity I had to begin with, when I decided to deck out my garage as a cheesy 1990s used car dealership a while back. Hope you get a kick out of this 45 second commercial. The $50 I spent on Amazon swag was well worth the results.

But for reals, I’m selling a car. It’s time to re-prioritize and think about my short-term and long-term plans for the Acura collection. It’s now been 5 years (exactly) since I picked up my 1994 Vigor GS in Colorado and brought it home. I’ve enjoyed it for 13,000 miles, and shown it at RADwood and Japanese Classic Car Show.

Now it’s time to move it along to the next worthy owner. Here’s a link to the auction. This makes my Acura Vigor officially the first Vigor ever sold on Bring a Trailer. The site has had 14 Legends and at least that many Integras.

How come I’m selling? Let me count the ways. Career uncertainty, I can’t drive it (and my 8 other cars) enough, there are other projects and cars I have in mind in the future, it’s a good chance to free up some garage space, and to help the Vigor model gain recognition since the enthusiast network is so obscure and forgotten. So bid away!

Along with that, I filmed a 14-minute very detailed video about the ins & outs of the car. The intro to the segment involved re-creating the cover photo from the 1994 Acura full-line brochure.

I extend thanks to my friend Josh of Clymer’s Carport for his innovation and creativity in developing a custom, hand-built Hot Wheels display board for me. I put together a video on it.

I recently created a login for Newspapers.com and started browsing the archives from the 1980s and 1990s. I dug up some particularly cool ads for Acura dealerships from back in the day.

A friend of mine picked up a 6-speed ILX to replace his RSX as a daily driver. It’s “Fathom Blue.” Last month also marks 8 years of ownership for me with my ILX.

My friend Chuck found an old pic that was taken the day after I got the car new in 2012.

I decided to do some small upgrades to the west garage on my property. It’s a small space where I keep one car, my lawn mower, and other yard care items. A neighbor recommended Garage Flooring LLC as a place to pick up plastic tiles, so I placed an online order and did the install. I opted to not put tiles over the entire floor but only about half of it for now.

NALM Arizona Update

The announcement was made on 6/26 that in light of current events that are heavily impacting the Arizona region currently (and for the foreseeable future), it is prudent to postpone this year’s National Acura Legend Meet to fall 2021 instead. More to come as registration re-opens, but our placeholder dates are October 6-10, 2021.

On the 4th of July I picked up my friend Lance for breakfast in a 6-door limo that’s being stored at my house. It belongs to my friend Devan. The car is 20″ longer than a quad cab Duramax pickup. I had to ramp up my depth perception a little.

I also enjoyed a little excursion in the Super Sonic Blue 1999 Integra. A few Saturdays ago (I think – my sense of time is all out of whack lately), some friends and I cruised up the twisties of Highway 89A to Prescott. We stopped along the way to pay respects to the 19 firefighters who were killed during the 2013 Yarnell Wildfire.

Hope everyone is having a nice weekend staying safe out there. Send ice cream and snowflakes.

22 Comments »

Weekend Update: Jason & Jandi’s Visits, Working from Home, Automotive Stuff

Posted in Arizona, Brochures, Integra, Legend, Model Cars, RL, SLX on March 21, 2020 by tysonhugie

Odometer (RL): 211,776

How is everyone doing? I saw a meme the other day: “What a year this week has been.” Yeah, sounds about right. I’m going to spare you from having one more place to read about the current state of the world around us, because I know your TV and your social media feeds are absolutely saturated with it. Over here in Arizona, my travels have dialed back to just the occasional trip to the grocery store or drive-thru – in fact, those are the only 2 trips I took all week. And as much as I love being on the go, I have actually kind of enjoyed being homebound. Shocker.

For one thing, I spent about 2 hours in the yard this morning with a complete cosmetic revamp. Mow, trim, weed killer, and sweep. It was satisfying and refreshing, especially in this gorgeous spring weather. I have projects underway with the house, with the cars, and with work, not to mention writing / YouTubing / organizing / planning / journaling. I spent an hour this afternoon on the phone with grandparents catching up.

Sometimes having a chance to slow the pace of life down a little isn’t necessarily a bad thing. And even though my travel calendar has been wiped clean for at least the next couple of months, I’m confident I’ll stay busy and productive.

I had a couple of visitors in town earlier this month including my friend Jason and my cousin Jandi. Jason drove in from Las Cruces in his Contour so we could go meet with Kevin Marti of Marti Auto Works, who has a specialty Ford facility on the western outskirts of Phoenix.

Kevin is a licensee to Ford’s complete production database – in other words, he can authenticate and give detailed background on just about any FoMoCo vehicle. His “Marti Reports” are the renowned source of truth when it comes to production numbers rarity. I last visited his place in 2014.

My cousin from Idaho also visited and we had a nice time enjoying the weather and company. I’ll let the photos and video below tell the rest of the story because it’s a wide variety of automotive updates I can share with you all.

I was originally scheduled to volunteer as a driver during the Mecum collector car auction a week ago. I had my credential and everything. But then I pulled out given current state of the public situation. But I’m on the list for next year and I will get to drive some cool stuff like this (while I awkwardly sit in the driver’s seat and let people bid on “me.”). Coverage from my visit to Mecum last year is here.

My home office is set up and I moved my desk in my bedroom so that it looks out the front window. Now, I just need a better monitor setup. Stat!

I juiced a couple dozen oranges that I got from a friend’s tree. Citrus trees are in season right now here!

I had the Legend coupe out last week to visit friends in Gilbert with a huge new home. The ceilings inside it are 16 feet tall.

My neighbor Chuck got a couple cool cars from a relative in Texas. One of them is this 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner.

The other is this 1930 Model A. Both were temporarily stored in my backyard for a time.

The Legend sedan saw some daylight last week.

And the RL.

And the NSX was my ride of choice for a last minute grocery store run. For Diet Coke – only the essentials.

I received a recall in the mail today for the 2000 RL’s airbag. I was sort of surprised Acura is having to recall 20-year-old cars. But the letter basically stated that parts for the repair aren’t even yet available.

One of my YouTube subscribers asked me to give an update on the rooftop model cars, so I did that in the video too.

An ‘Instagram friend’ sent me some stickers – check out this one in the shape of a G2 Integra.

I took the opportunity last weekend to check in with some good friends who have helped me a lot over the years with automotive projects and other things. Hy and Linda, thank you!

After that, I met up briefly with my friend Ken who has a 2006 ‘Suzuka Blue’ Honda S2000.

One of the projects I’m keeping myself busy with now is a categorization of about 50 pieces of literature related to the Acura Legend. Over the last 20 years I’ve collected (what I believe to be) every piece of print media that had the Legend in it. I’m in the process now of sorting them all out so I can copy & PDF to share with others.

This dealership even offered a “beeper service” to page you when your car was ready. Whoa.

Here’s a glimpse of what we’re talking about.

The last bit of news is about the SLX, which hasn’t moved for about 10 days and is leaking a puddle of various fluids on my nice garage floor right now, haha.

A friend (again from Instagram) connected me with a resource that was able to decode the VIN plate in the engine bay. I now know exactly what each of those ‘options’ listed at the bottom are. The summary is below in Excel.

My former SLX, the one that Acura rebuilt as a “resto-mod” with RDX drivetrain, is sitting on display right now at the Honda headquarters in Torrance, California. Acura Public Relations representative Andrew sent me this picture.

I also found a couple article on the SLX, which I’m adding to my archive.

That’s it for now! Everyone stay safe out there, and I’ll talk to you soon.

12 Comments »

December Updates: Cabin Weekend, Christmas, & Coming Attractions

Posted in Blog, Brochures, Car Show, ILX, Legend, NSX, Road Trip, Utah on December 27, 2018 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 212,097

Odometer (Something New): 178,351

Trip Distance: 210 Miles

Time once again to play catch-up on current events. I’m turning 37 years old in 3.5 hours, so if I don’t wake up tomorrow morning due to old age, I at least want the Drive to Five community to know how I spent my final weeks, right? Oh and the odometer teaser above – more to come on that. I might have bought myself a 4,615-pound birthday gift.

First of all, I ended up being featured on Hello Road‘s YouTube channel with a quick feature from the Radwood show a couple of weeks ago in Los Angeles. Check out this video at about 6:42 on the clock. Huge thanks to Ethan Tufts for the feature!

A couple weekends ago, I joined 6 friends and headed for the hills northeast of Phoenix.

Our destination was a cabin in Pine, Arizona. Pine is only a little over 100 miles from the hustle and bustle of the city, but it has a woodsy culture, far cooler temperatures, and lots of wildlife. I took the ILX for this trip which made light work of the grades rising out of town on Highway 87. The climb goes from about 1,000 feet above elevation to a little over 5,000, making it a popular way to climb out of the boiling hot valley in summertime.

2012 road tripping:

2018 road tripping:

Among our destinations were the Early Bird Cafe above – which I’d visited six years prior – for a hearty and delicious breakfast. Unfortunately, employee Katie (pictured in the 2012 pic in orange) no longer works there. After that, we checked out Tonto Natural Bridge, the “world’s largest natural travertine arch.” Most of the trails within the park were closed for construction this time, but we were able to hike down toward the riverbed and see some of the mossy waterfalls.

Sam, Adam C, Kenny, Adam S (back), and Tyson, Riley, Chandler (front)

I was delighted to have my friend Brandon from Las Vegas visiting for several days, and then today had another visitor – this time it was my buddy Alaeldeen from all the way in Edmonton, Alberta. Fun fact: He owned the Clarion Legend coupe for about two years.

Here’s Brandon:

The gang at brunch:

Here’s Alaeldeen:

I’m also playing caretaker for my friend Branson’s Legend coupe which will spend a few months at my house whilst his home in the Salt Lake City area is getting some garage upgrades. It’s a sweet ride. My backyard looks like a bit of a parking lot (or junkyard?) as I’m awaiting the cure of an epoxy sealant on the garage floor. That story will get its own blog post in the coming weeks.

This past weekend, the ILX ‘front-wheel-drive sleigh’ took me to Christmas festivities in southern Utah, where I got to meet my youngest niece who is named Ava Mae. She’s a real cutie. I also reconnected with a few friends including my friend Shaun who recently picked up a 1997 Acura 3.0 CL that drives like a real peach for having 206,000 miles on it.

Cute baby up above, cute babies right here too:

Following I’ll share a hodge-podge of the rest of the pictures from these recent adventures.

NSX roller shot by my friend Michael

And the coupe at the same time

Checking out my buddy Travis’ new-to-him 1995 LS automatic – it needs work, but it’s a start!

Michael’s new 1993 Integra LS at right.

Out at the Pavilions car show and an RSX-S joined me.

Couple more shots of Branson’s coupe:

Literature swag update: Special thanks to my buddy “on the inside” at American Honda (you know who you are!) who hooked me up with these amazing items. This first one is an actual binder dated 2001 which shows approved paint & interior finishes for dealerships. Like actual dealership showroom carpet samples!

Couple pics of the ever-evolving showcase:

New 2008 TL spiral booklet added, too.

Finally – My brother has just as many toys as I have, and here’s his latest. This 1954 Ford truck is powered by a supercharged GM “LT4” V8 engine with around 650 horsepower. I know, a Chevy engine in a Ford. He’s going to tune it for another 75-100 ponies. Watch out.

Have a great weekend and New Year celebration if I don’t post here before!

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Back in the Saddle: ILX Return from Utah & My Showroom Display Case

Posted in Brochures, ILX, Utah on September 3, 2018 by tysonhugie

Odometer (ILX): 206,792

Happy Labor Day.

After a 15-month hiatus, my 2013 ILX is back from Utah. My brother was using the car for daily duty – though his driving only added up to about 6,000 miles in that length of time. It had been since last November when I sold my TL Type-S that I’ve been driving around without a ‘modern’ (post-1990s vehicle) so I was glad to get back into something with iPod connectivity and other conveniences.

It felt a bit odd to slide back into that driver seat again after so long, but the car smelled, drove, and handled exactly as I remembered it. Before leaving St. George last Saturday, I paid a quick visit to grandma and grandpa as well as to my friend Blair who has a couple of 1989 Legend coupes that are up for grabs. Check out the video at the bottom of this post – free to a good home. Any takers?

The St. George -> Phoenix trip felt much like every other I’ve taken, except for one new stretch: The Nevada Department of Transportation has recently (within the last month, even) dedicated a new stretch of road as part of Interstate 11.

Formerly, the drive between Las Vegas and Phoenix required driving through the town of Boulder City which would become overrun with traffic headed to Hoover Dam, especially on holiday weekends. Now, the new freeway bypasses Boulder City to the south and reconnects with Highway 93 just prior to the bridge over the Colorado River. It’s a pretty slick piece of road that will easily slice 5 or 10 minutes off my drive.

I happened to pull off at a scenic viewpoint and end up right next to a 2018 ILX. Its owners were very nice!

The road is so new that traffic is light, and I was able to stop in the middle of the onramp for a photo without blocking anyone.

The other exciting thing is some progress with my literature collection. After 20 years of acquiring merchandise and brochures related to Acura vehicles, I finally have a way to start showcasing some of it. Several weeks ago, I purchased a 70″ long (38″ tall, 18″ deep) display case from a company called Achieve Display. It arrived in Phoenix a few days later but I had to rent a full size pickup truck to retrieve the 300-pound pallet that it came on at the freight depot.

Assembly was a bit of a chore, as the 8-page instruction manual was lacking detail, but we figured it out. I took some time to do an inventory of some of my collectibles and filled up the case right away. I also ordered a plexiglass 6-up magazine display to hang on the wall (and another one is on the way) so my laundry room which leads into the garage is finally transforming into a bit of a showroom. In going through my boxes of literature, I discovered duplicates in some of the items.

Light reading!

I have over 80 brochures ranging in model year from 1986 through 2015, as well as probably that many magazine articles as well. Time to get my library in order! One day I’d like to scan a bunch of the items and digitize them to share with the community but most of the pieces are larger than a typical sheet of paper.

My friend Jerry gave me a few awesome items including these vintage hats.

Finished product – for now:

Short video on ILX retrieval:

Blair’s 1989 coupes:

Display case & garage walk-through:

Interstate 11 informational placard

Headed back to PHX

My friend German stopping by to take the NSX for a spin

Photo a friend sent me of a 1992-era dealership

Saw this in one of the vintage mags: Ads for different car clubs, including 2 Acura clubs. I want to join!

My friend Eric gave me a sweet Polo shirt for being his first commenter on RentalReview.blog. Go check out his site!

He also gave me some magnets I can use for a little advertising.

Service manuals galore.

Magazines on display – and a framed jigsaw puzzle of my 1994 Legend GS.

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Throwback Thursday: Scans from ‘Vintage’ Acura Driver Magazines

Posted in Brochures, Throwback on May 29, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 529,644

Odometer (ILX): 80,905

Let’s turn back the clock to around the year “Titanic” came out (1997). I was one of the lucky few to be a subscriber to Acura Driver magazine (now “Style”) in the late 1990’s. I recently started digging into the archives and found a few hidden treasures that I wanted to share.

Acura always tried really hard to highlight individuals or families who had a strong commitment to the brand, like this family with a bunch of Legends. I spy a rare 1995 Garnet Red sedan with the gold emblem package!

This photo feature was published in commemoration of the brand’s 10-year anniversary in 1996. How different does the lineup look today? Gone are the two-door models like the Integra, CL, and NSX. In fact, every single model from this picture has been renamed or discontinued entirely.

Had to laugh at this one – below is a look at what the http://www.acura.com website looked like in late 1997 – early 1998. Today’s interactive and elaborate webpages blow this one out of the water.

In each Acura Driver issue, then-Vice President Richard Thomas shared a letter to the Acura community that was followed by a photo of him with an Acura. This was one example, taken with a Heather Mist Metallic 1996 3.5 RL on the lawn of the Ritz Carlton. Posh. Pardon me, does anyone have any Grey Poupon?

And this one with his grandkids while on an outdoors excursion in a 1996 SLX.

Technology sure has come a long way, too. Below was a sketch of what was on the horizon for the world of satellite-based GPS navigation systems.

I especially loved this story of a sheriff in Jackson County, Missouri who used a 2.5 TL as his unmarked patrol car. “My TL outperforms the Crown Vic with its 4.6 liter police package,” he said. That’s impressive considering his TL had only 5 cylinders!

Just for fun: NSX-T advertisement

3.5 RL advertisement. “A Ride So Quiet, You Can Hear Your Heart Beat Faster.” Ha!

Good stuff! Speaking of Acura magazines, somehow I made it into the latest NSX Driver. It’s a publication of the NSXCA (NSX Club of America).

In each issue, the magazine features members who are new to the NSXCA. The of mine that they included was from a trip to Coronado Trail in eastern Arizona a couple of years ago.

Finally, I’m sending a shout-out to Jason from Driven for Drives as he continues his cross-country tour. He sent me this picture of a meet-up with my friend Sofyan in Washington, DC a couple of days ago.

Nice looking Fathom Blue ILX and Crystal Black TL!

You guys are making me want to hit the highway for some travels of my own. Stay tuned!

4 Comments »

1995 Acura Literature: “Preferred Pre-Owned”

Posted in Brochures on March 25, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 529,040

Odometer (ILX): 71,797

Many thanks to my friend (and Acura sales & leasing consultant) Paul at Ed Voyles Acura for sending me some awesome literature in the mail!

Here’s a screen shot from the Excel spreadsheet where I keep track of my inventory. In total, I have collected 75 items that pertain to general Acura interest (ranging from full-line model brochures to press kits, greeting cards, postcards, paint chips, things of that sort). Then, I have a separate 50 or so items that are specific to the Legend (brochures, promotional videos, posters, etc). It’s become quite the library! I talked about some of it here.

Here’s a new piece that I picked up just this past weekend. It’s a 12 x 12 detailed brochure on the 1991 Legend sedan that I got from my friend Mark in Los Angeles.

Acura, like most luxury automakers, has a very robust program in place to resell its lightly-used vehicles. Even back in the mid-1990s, there were advertisements like this one that made “original owners want to buy them back.”

Along with that campaign were printed various types of literature, including this pamphlet and booklet that Paul sent to me. These were printed in 1995 and contain detailed information about the Preferred Pre-Owned program as it related to the NSX, RL, Legend, SLX, TL, Vigor, CL, and Integra models.

The brochure has 24 pages of detailed information about what WAS and WAS NOT covered in the Preferred Pre-Owned vehicle warranty program. One of my favorite recommendations in the brochure was: “As an aid for the next owner, keep all maintenance receipts with the vehicle if it is sold.” Something that I love to see when I’m browsing the classifieds is a vehicle that’s fully documented back to new. I’d be far more comfortable buying a 200,000 mile car with full maintenance history than one with 100,000 miles and zero paperwork.

Toward the end of the booklet there’s one page called Required Maintenance Record. I don’t think these 14 boxes would have lasted me very long, considering my Legend’s maintenance spreadsheet now contains 236 lines of data.

Perhaps the best part of the whole package was a postcard attached to the back cover. The idea here was that owners could register themselves as members of the Preferred Pre-Owned program.

I wonder if I should fill one out for my Legend and just see what they do with it when it gets there?

Side Note: For any who are interested in picking up a really clean RSX 6-speed, have a look at this beauty:

My friend Buck is getting ready to part with his 2002 RSX Type-S. It’s immaculately maintained with only 91,500 miles on the odometer. The interior is black leather. The RSX is customized with 17″ wheels from the 2007-08 Acura TL Type-S. For inquiries, reach me at the email listed in my “About” page and I’ll put you in touch with Buck. The car is located in southern Utah.

Thanks for looking!

2 Comments »

Acura Accessories: 1994 vs. 2014

Posted in Brochures, ILX, Legend on January 3, 2014 by tysonhugie

Odometer (Legend): 528,333

Odometer (ILX): 63,890

I made the realization the other day that I’ve been driving for half my life. This year – my 32nd – is the only year I’ll be able to say that. It’s been fascinating to see how far automotive technology and style have come in the last couple of decades. We now live in an age where cars are far smarter than their drivers, and it blows my mind.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Devan came over to give me a hand with a detailing project. My buddy Jeremy recently picked up a 2004 Acura MDX that was absolutely covered in every possible dealer accessory. A few of those upgrades are tasteful, but for some reason those brown side moldings just didn’t do much for the look of the vehicle against the pearl white paint. Devan and I stripped the moldings off to give the MDX a cleaner look.

Before:

After:

I got thinking about all the ways people can customize a vehicle and how those styles have evolved in the last 20 years. The MDX had a gold emblem package (I thought those went out of style in the late 90’s!), moonroof visor, chrome wheels, and a bug guard. I remember how badly I wanted my mom to install these chrome fender flares on her 1993 Legend L sedan back in 1998:

For kicks, I pulled out some paperwork from my old Acura Legend GS. The shocker: The OEM (center console-mounted) cellular telephone was $1,143 in 1994. According to the Inflation Calculator, that’s $1,797 in 2013 dollars. Among other goodies on the list are sheepskin seat covers for $499 and gold exhaust tips for $130. I would love to get my hands on a set of the OEM fog lights since they’re long since discontinued, but $565? It’s no wonder they’re so rare to find on Legends today – they were spendy as all get-out! Let’s take a look at how the types of automotive accessories have evolved for Acura.

1994 Acura Legend Accessory Price List

2014 Acura ILX Accessory Price List

Gone are the days of gold emblems, sheepskins, and nose masks, but a few NEW things have made the roster. Mud guards are now called splash guards. Body side molding, which was standard on the Legend, costs $268 on the ILX. The price for an OEM car cover went from $175 to $242. And illuminated door sill trim was probably only a dream in the 1990’s, but can now be picked up for $499 in 2014.

My ILX is pretty highly optioned out. Here’s what I ended up with:

All-Season Floor Mats
Illuminated Door Sill Trim
First Aid Kit
Trunk Tray
17″ Diamond Cut Alloy Wheels
Decklid Spoiler
Front, Side, and Rear Underbody Spoilers
Wheel Locks

All-in, my ILX accessories (“installed”) would ring up at $5,140.28! That works out to 17% of the ILX’s $29,200 list price! Few people are likely to spend such an amount to dress up their vehicles.

This was a fun video that was put together in June 2012 in collaboration with Acura on the day that my ILX was accessorized at Acura of Tempe, Arizona. Most of you have probably already seen it.

What kind of accessories will Acura be offering in the year 2034?

I know I’ve got my friends well-trained when they’re sending me Acura “spy photos” from the road, like my friend Jack did awhile back.

Have a great weekend!

7 Comments »

Bookkeeping

Posted in Brochures, Legend on October 9, 2011 by tysonhugie

Odometer: 497,660

My 50th blog entry! Thanks for sticking with me as I’ve taken you along the ride from my first blog post on March 22nd of this year at 467,276 miles until today. It was time for the archive-o’-maintenance records on the 1994 Legend LS to be split between two, 2 1/2 inch 3-ring binders today.

As I was cleaning things out and organizing a little, I realize just how extensive of records I’ve kept on this car! A receipt from Walmart from a fuel system treatment I ran through at 138,000 miles. Receipt printouts from Ebay for sets of wheels that I don’t even own anymore. I made sense of the mess of paperwork and divided the books into a few sections:

1) Records. First oil change at 4,096 miles from 9/24/1994 through some recent suspension work on the control arms at 497,487 on 10/4/2011. The first binder (Volume I) goes from new to around 400,000 miles. The second binder (Volume II) goes from 401,000 miles to current, and then includes paperwork on a bunch of other stuff.

2) Miscellaneous receipts. The receipt on the clear bra that installed on my headlights a few years ago, receipts for audio equipment, extra quarts of oil (no, I’ve never needed them though!), spare coolant, my rear trunk lid lip spoiler, the chrome exhaust tips other grab-bag stuff.

3) Most recent Carfax and Autocheck reports (totally clean, not a scratch or dent on the car’s history according to these background checks).

Interesting to note that according to the most recent Carfax, dated 7/22/11, my Legend is actually worth $470 ABOVE retail book value! This I’m assuming is due to the extensive dealership maintenance showing up on the report. There are 54 Acura dealership maintenance items listed on the printout. The dealerships range geographically from Power Acura of South Bay (southern California) to Princeton Acura of New Jersey, and scattered locations in between. For kicks, I decided to see what blue book says about my car as of today.

Assuming “excellent” condition (which is the only option that Kelley Blue Book allows you to pick when you’re looking for retail values), my car’s worth $3,795.

But remember, Carfax just told me I can tack on an additional $470. So the question is, would you pay $4,265 for a vehicle with nearly 498,000 miles on it? Perhaps the almighty blue book isn’t intended to be used for a vehicle this used up!

4) Estimates for repairs and/or bodywork or anything else. One example: Because it gave me such a laugh, I kept a copy of a handwritten estimate from a couple of years ago when I priced out a new OEM clutch for my Legend sedan. $2,279 for the clutch assembly and $1,375 for labor. So $3,654 for a new clutch in a car that at the time wasn’t even worth that much. Yikes. I ended up going a different route with the repairs needless to say.
5) Articles. I’ve kept printouts of some of the feature stories my car has made it into, including last week’s Jalopnik “Commenter of the Day” fame with the piece on “I would drive 500,000 miles.“
6) Traffic tickets and other fun stuff. For having traveled over 400,000 miles personally in this car over the last just over 8 years, I’ve been (knock on wood) pretty lucky about avoiding run-ins with the police. Four speeding violations, one “failure to obey traffic control device,” a couple of warnings for dark window tint. I snagged a picture when I got pulled over by an officer on the Kaibab Paiute Indian land in southern Utah in April 2009.

I also have a Consent to Search from the Arizona Department of Public Safety dated 2/21/10 from when I was pulled over on Interstate 10 near Quartzsite, Arizona and the Legend was strip searched because I was suspected as a drug trafficker. For some reason the officer got suspicious when I told him I was driving to Los Angeles from Phoenix – and back in the same day – just to have lunch with friends in Santa Monica. Apparently normal people don’t drive 12 hours round trip for a lunch appointment? But I do. And yes, I somehow managed to discreetly take a couple of “spy” photos while the officer went through my belongings.

Brings back memories!

7) Finally, I have a section for car show related paperwork and other trip memories. The Legend has been entered in the Hurricane Valley Easter Car Show at least half a dozen times and has brought home a few trophies in the Import class. I have my original entry forms from my participation in the NOPI Nationals Motorsports Supershow in 2005 and 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia, my “Longest Drive Award” from the 2008 National Acura Legend Meet in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That was one of seven NALMs I’ve attended across the country. I also have an entry form from when I entered the car in the Lakeland Hills Rockin’ Auto Show in Seattle, Washington in 2005 (at a mere 182,000 miles).

My friend snagged this picture while sitting next to me at a stoplight at Camelback Rd & Scottsdale Rd this afternoon. I was blasting Metallica’s “Sad But True” as loud as my aftermarket Pioneer sound system would pump it! I’m planning a little road trip tomorrow so I’ll update again with something more exciting, but today was very productive in non-odometer-rolling ways.

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My Kinda Books

Posted in Brochures, Legend on June 10, 2011 by tysonhugie

As further witness to just how deep this Acura Legend obsession goes, I thought I’d take a pit stop in the 500k blog to post about my catalog of Acura & Legend literature that I’ve accumulated over the years.

I’ve been collecting anything on paper related to this car since I was about 16 years old. Today I received in the mail from my friend Steve in Missouri a new addition for the library: a JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) brochure for the Legend coupe, including photos and specs (in Japanese, of course) for the super rare Alpha-Touring model. It’s fun to thumb through and view the accessories offered and recognize just how far ahead of their time these vehicles were. It’s also amazing the level of detail that went into not only the cars themselves, but the advertising materials that promoted them.

I’ve got some full size 24×36 posters, a VHS promo tape, OEM service manuals, magazine articles, brochures from about every year, original dealership press kits in boxes, and virtually anything else that could have been used to promote the Legend. Among my collection I also keep a few special items related to my own personal car; I was fortunate to obtain from the original owner the window sticker, purchase paperwork, pre-delivery inspection, and I even still have the California license plate “3KED109” that was issued to the car when it was brand new in 1994 in Pleasanton.

Like any good data analyst, I went ahead and logged my collection a few years ago in Excel and I add a line each time I get a new piece of material, such as today.

Here’s the new piece I got today. 18 pages of fascinating reading! Thanks Steve.

Just one of the boxes of some of the junk I’ve accumulated.

And some pics from a few years ago when I pulled out a few pieces to reminisce.

I won’t even get into the thousands of Legend pictures I’ve taken over the years – of my cars and of others’. My best friends know me well enough to realize that it makes my day when they send me random “spy” shots of Legends on the road with their phones. And they’re quick to quiz me on the year, trim, options, and official color name every time it happens. I love it!

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