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!
Posted in Legend, Throwback on February 27, 2014 by tysonhugie
Odometer (Legend): 528,729
Odometer (ILX): 68,506
Get a load of that AZ sunset! For the next few Thursdays, we’ll take a look in the review mirror at some highlights of my hundreds of thousands of miles of car travel.
I’ve met so many great friends through my “car network” over the years. One of those is my buddy Branson from Salt Lake City, Utah. I first met him at a small Acura Legend meet in August 2003 in the city of Lehi. At the time, he was driving a pearl white 1993 Legend LS sedan.
A few years later, in May 2006 when my Legend coupe had 218,000 miles on it, Branson had moved on from his sedan and picked up an identical twin to my coupe. Well, sort of. Branson’s was a bit younger in miles – only 104,000 – and his had the 4-speed automatic transmission, as opposed to my 6-speed manual. But visually, we were almost exactly the same.
We had some definite fun cruising the streets of SLC with our Desert Mist Metallic Legends.
We also parked the cars inside a small used-car dealership where Branson worked at the time.
A few pics inside a parking garage for good measure.
A month later, Branson and I got together for some another photo-op. The date was June 24, 2006. He had just received his new “4CRUZN2” license plate from the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles, so we took 4CRUIZN and 4CRUZN2 out for a day on the town.
The next two pictures were taken west of the city on Interstate 80 near Saltair.
It was weird to be following a car that looked just like mine.
Good times! I’ve continued to keep in close contact with Branson over the years. Today, he still has a Legend. We both entered cars in last year’s Hurricane Easter Car Show in southern Utah.
Here’s to many more years (and miles) of fun with him.
Posted in Blog, Throwback on February 25, 2014 by tysonhugie
Odometer (Legend): 528,718
Odometer (ILX): 68,429
It’s always a good day when my neighbors get to see another Acura at my house. Special thanks to my friend James for his visit this past Sunday! James is the former owner of a Legend LS coupe, but he’s been driving a 2004 Acura TL 6-speed for the last 6 years. It’s looking good for 170,000 miles on the odometer. We snagged a picture together after getting back from lunch in the Legend.
I do love that factory body kit!
James is the Executive Director of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona. His license plate says “Ph.D Cowboy,” and that makes a nice segway into today’s topic.
A couple of weeks ago, I got digging through my collection of license plates and I was able to round up each one of the 10 vanity plates that my cars have worn in my 16 years of driving.
Each one carries with it a unique set of memories in the hundreds of thousands of miles they’ve covered. From my high school “HUGGIE’S” days with my 1986 Chevy Celebrity to my college years with the 1991 Prelude Si 4WS and the multiple Legends I’ve owned over the last decade, each car has had its own personality.
Perhaps the most meaningful pair of plates in my collection is this one:
Those were the last license plates registered to a black 1987 Chevy pickup truck that my late grandfather owned. He passed away at the young age of 58 years old in September, 1989. The license plates expired one month later. These plates have been kept in safekeeping for 25 years now. They still have bug guts on them that I refuse to clean off because they represent part of the history with my grandpa and his beautiful black truck.
What does your plate say, and does it have any special meaning to you?
Thanks to Dillon – “Hondatalover” for this sweet TLX rendering I’m sharing today.
And guess who’s a new card-carrying member of the Acura NSX Club of America (NSXCA)?! Yeah baby!
Today, I’m digging way back into the road trip archives to bring you a vintage write-up from October 21, 2005. My Legend had “just” 194,392 miles on it at the time. I set out in the (very) early morning hours to experience a famous highway. Following is a post that I shared with the Legend forums nearly 10 years ago, and I still remember that road trip like it was yesterday.
“Four o’clock in the morning. Miles of road continue to unwind in the vast wasteland of southern Nevada. My headlights pierce through the pitch-black night and illuminate the painted road lines like neon against the asphalt. The road is Highway 375 – the famed Extraterrestrial Highway, so named for its proximity to Area 51. Destination: Rachel, Nevada. Rachel is the closest civilization to Area 51 and boasts a population of nearly 100. I’m getting closer but can’t help but be a little bit on edge because I am traveling unfamiliar highways in the middle of the night, and I haven’t seen another vehicle for the past sixty miles at least…”
This morning I traveled to Rachel, Nevada. The town is the closest you can legally get to Area 51. The round-trip was 400 miles.
From an online article about Rachel:
Rachel, Nevada takes us to a small town 110 miles from Las Vegas, site of a formerly secret US Air Force installation known as Area 51. The base develops new planes such as the stealth bomber. The secrecy shrouding Area 51 has given rise to suspicions over the years, earning the town of Rachel (primarily a collection of trailer homes) the title “UFO Capital of the World,” and Nevada State Highway 375 “Alien Highway”. The film focuses on the everyday people of Rachel, once left alone to service the military, now the center of tourism and a publicity boom. There are enough stories and photos to persuade even the most die-hard skeptics that something extraterrestrial may be going on.
There’s not much to take pictures of. There is the ever-famous “Little AL-E-INN” that I had to get pics of. And then there are the Extraterrestrial Highway signs which are pretty cool. I forgot to get a picture at the gas station, but it only had one pump and only 89 octane.
On to the pics I did take. I used the same backgrounds a lot because I didn’t have much else to work with.
No gas for 110 miles!
Rachel, Nevada
Population: Humans – 98, Aliens – ?
I wonder how much a room at the A’Le’Inn costs.
Prepared to take flight
LOTS of open space without any people, buildings, or anything!
The spaceship has landed!
And of course, I did park there!
When the movie Independence Day was filmed in 1996, they put a time capsule in front of the A-LE-INN. Here’s the placard and monument.
The next picture is (according to my map) one of the dirt roads that leads to Area 51. Had I gone any further, I would have been approached by armed security guards in Jeep Cherokees, and probably fined $600.
Current mileage as of today
That’s it!
On a related note, is anyone out there looking for a “500k-miler-in-training”? I’ve got a couple of nice options for you. First up is this absolutely pristine one-owner 1995 Legend LS coupe automatic in rare Cayman White Pearl with only 107,000 miles. My friend Josh from TSX Travels gave this one a look-see for us and took the below 3 pictures, as well as many others which I posted here on the Legend forums.
The other option is this “twin” car to mine. It’s a 1994 Legend LS coupe 6-speed in Desert Mist Metallic. It’s got a clean title and is only halfway broken in at 226,000 miles the odometer. Ebay shows the current bid at just $2,000.
Somebody buy it!
Check out this awesome 6-minute time-lapse video of a cross-country drive from Hollywood to DC. Thanks to my friend Ian for sharing it.
Weather in Phoenix broke some records this weekend (87 degrees!), so my friends and I took the opportunity to get outdoors and enjoy some sunshine. Camelback Mountain Desert Preserve was established in 1968 by then-president Lyndon Johnson and has become a popular area for hiking recreation.
Along with 4 friends including my friend Conor who’d flown in from New York for the weekend, I hiked the Cholla Canyon trail. It’s only about 1.5 miles long each way, but the elevation gain is 1,200 feet and in some areas it requires getting on hands & knees to scale the faces of rocks. The view from the top was worth it. Here I’m pictured with Brad, Matthew, Conor, and Justin.
Heading to the trailhead with Brad, Conor, and Justin
I think we had to park as far away from the trailhead as the length of the hike itself. Very busy day!
Trailhead arrival
The summit is 2,704 feet in elevation. On a clear day, expansive views can be enjoyed a full 360 degrees.
Afterward, we bought out the lemonade stand at the base of the hill. I hadn’t packed any water – big mistake!
Brad’s 2013 Audi RS5 looked right at home in the driveway. I want it!
Later in the weekend, I drove Conor out to Gilbert, Arizona in the 1994 Legend coupe. He’d never seen a Mormon temple before so we checked out the brand new one that was just completed there. It’s the 142nd temple in operation for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The temple sits on 21 acres southeast of Phoenix and 83,000 square feet of floor area. It’s open to the public for tours until the March 2nd dedication date. I took a tour of the building a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed with the craftsmanship and architecture.
Thought I’d add a little throwback segment today since I scanned some old pictures this week. I’ve shared before that my first Acura love was a car that my mom bought when I was 14 years old. It was a Rio Red 1990 Acura Integra GS Sedan with an automatic transmission. That car was a huge upgrade from some of my mom’s previous rides, including a Pontiac Grand Prix and a Jeep Cherokee. I loved how sporty it was.
Here’s a photo taken on November 9, 1996 at a family dinner outing. We parked next to my uncle Dande’s Bahama Gold Metallic 1988 Acura Legend L Sedan 5-speed that I later owned. Acura parking only! I was already addicted even back then.
Here are a couple of photos that were taken after a detail in St. George, Utah.
I kind of wish we still had that Integra! Though, the Acura ILX today carries on the Integra’s DNA as the brand’s stylish entry level compact sedan.
That old Integra provided reliable service until we upgraded to a 1993 Legend L Sedan in June of the following year. Meanwhile, we enjoyed that sporty little ride.
Posted in Legend, Throwback on October 24, 2013 by tysonhugie
Odometer (Legend): 527,315
Odometer (ILX): 57,133
It sure is getting dark early these days. On the bright side, I get brilliant sunsets like this for my commute home in the ILX.
One of the 9 Acura Legends in my past was a stunning white 6-speed sedan. Rewinding the clock to early 2007, I’d just finished up my MBA degree and landed my first “real” job. It was time to reward myself with something special, and I’d always had a soft spot for the rare 1994-1995 Legend GS sedan 6-speed models.
Posted in a for-sale ad by the original owner’s son Simon, a pearl white 1994 Legend GS was offered up with full records and an amazing history. It was the classic “little old lady” scenario – almost too good to be true, yet it was 100% real. I recognized the urgency on sealing the deal before anyone else snagged this rare car. In short order, I’d arranged for online payment and booked a short flight to Orange County from Phoenix. I’d never seen a 207,000-mile car with such an immaculate interior. The seats were so smooth it was like they’d been freshly upholstered. I grinned all 400 miles home to Phoenix that evening.
Here’s the detailed posting that I shared with the Legend forums soon thereafter, including the following pics. Key handoff here (no car sale is “official” without one!) with Simon at left:
Amazing interior:
And oh my. Paperwork galore.
First fuel up in Palm Springs, CA off Interstate 10 eastbound.
For today’s photoset we travel back to February 2007 – six and a half years ago. I had just installed some 19″ Racing Hart C2 wheels on the Legend GS and took it for a weekend drive through the mining country in the Superstition Mountains about 70 miles east of the Phoenix valley. These are the pictures I took that day.
Superior, Arizona
That open window in this abandoned brick building was so inviting. ‘Urban exploration’ is a hobby of mine that I enjoy almost as much as playing with cars.
I met up briefly with my friend Chris who also had a 1994 Legend, but his was a Sherwood Green L model.
Don’t try this shot at home, kids.
Superior felt like a ghost town, and in reality it’s not far from becoming one.
This is the same “Hotel Magma” that was featured in the blog on an ILX this summer.
I felt like I needed to take off my shoes or wear booties every time I got in here.
There’s something serene about those cliffsides at dusk.
That Legend lives on in even better shape today than when I sold it. My friend Wayne from Houston, Texas bought it from me in October 2007 when I moved on to a Honda Prelude project. Wayne has since made some mechanical updates including replacement of the ABS pump. The car today only has 215,000 miles on it.
My coupe at the time had a mere 274,000 miles on it, and looked something like this.
Heber, Arizona
Mogollon Rim, Arizona
We made it to Friday! What’s everyone up to for the weekend?
Posted in Legend, Throwback on September 19, 2013 by tysonhugie
Odometer (Legend): 526,959
Odometer (ILX): 54,228
Seeing a neglected Acura for me is like seeing a neglected stray dog or cat. I have this compulsive reaction to want to bring them all home and nurse them back to health. That’s why, in November 2003, I approached the owners of this Florence Blue Metallic 1986 Acura Legend sedan in St. George, Utah and asked them if they wanted to sell it.
A $200 purchase later, and my brother Payton and I drove away (in a puff of blue smoke) in this 210,000 mile 5-speed.
It surely needed a lot. Aside from the obvious cosmetic issues, it needed some mechanical TLC.
Replacement CV axles were the first to go in. A Saturday detail brought new life to the paint.
Then the real fun began. I found a set of junkyard 1989-1990 Legend sedan wheels for it.
Over a 3-month period, this tired old Legend got a new stereo system, indiglo gauges (hey, they were all the rage in 2004!), fresh window tint, and JDM clear corner lenses up front. It hardly looked like the same car.
Oh yeah, I found that half-bra for the hood, too. And we touched up the bumpers and added chrome to the grille.
It was a fancy ride for my brother during his sophomore year of high school. When he upgraded to a 1996 Maxima, I took over the old Legend and drove it to northern Utah where I was then attending college. I already had my 1994 Legend coupe, and parking was difficult to come by, so I found a new owner for the ’86. It was sold in the fall of 2004 to this college student named Amy. Here was the key hand-off.
As I recall, the car had about 225,000 miles on it by then. I haven’t checked in on that old Legend in nearly 10 years now. It could very well still be on the road, but I’m guessing it’s gone to that Acura graveyard in the sky.
Payton, btw, is now driving a Lexus IS300 turbo. It’s a little faster than the 2.5 liter 1986 Legend.
In high mileage news, most of you probably saw by now that the 3-million-mile mark finally came and went for NY native Irv Gordon who bought his 1966 Volvo P1800 new. Since that day, he’s driven the car through 49 states. He completed his milestone on Alaska Highway 1 a couple of days ago. Check out the article on Yahoo. Congrats, Irv!
To many people, a car is much more than a mode of transportation. A vehicle carries with it a lot of memories. I really liked this video about how a man sought after a 1948 Plymouth Convertible to give it to his parents for their 60th wedding anniversary. The Plymouth was the same bodystyle as one they’d owned when they got married.
There’s one car to which I can attribute the root of my Acura fascination.
My mom purchased a Geneva Green 1993 Legend L sedan in the summer of 1997. It had 53,960 miles on the odometer and was offered for sale by a small local dealership in St. George, Utah called St. George Auto Center that has since closed. The car had an interesting history. It had spent 2 years of its life in Maui, Hawaii. Here is the screen capture of a recent AutoCheck report:
My mom picked up the car for $19,995. I was 15 years old at the time and I loved the car. She let me take it on dates through high school after I got my license.
Here’s a picture from the day we bought it in June 1997.
Temporary tag:
Other pics from over the years.
Detailing day. Check my red 1989 Honda Prelude Si in the background.
A new set of 16″ polished aluminum Optima wheels, clear marker light lenses, and chrome fender trim had been added. This would have been around 1998.
Later, we went for maximum “bling” and put on a set of 18″ Niche Bella wheels. Mom had the hottest ride in town.
It was during this time that I also first started getting involved with the Acura Legend online enthusiast community, of which I’m still a part. In the late 1990’s, one of the first sites dedicated to this car was launched by a California-based gentleman named Jim Trinh. Jim’s 1991 Legend LS sedan, which he named Vivian, was the centerpiece of his site: Legend.org.
To this day, Legend.org is still up and running, though only as an archive. It hasn’t been updated for probably a decade.
I remember snail-mailing Jim some 5×7 prints of my mom’s car – yes, this was before I even knew how to scan and email, and Jim entered my name in the “2nd Generation” portal of the site under 1993. Two pictures are still there.
And one in the Gallery:
I was away for a couple of years from 2001-2003 and my mom sold the car during that time (in essentially mint condition!) for $7,000. Here is a picture of the date the sale happened in September 2002 at 137,984 miles.
That buyer traded it only a couple of months later on a Dodge pickup at a dealership in Boise, Idaho. That’s the last I heard of the car.
I’d tracked the Legend over the years via Carfax, so I knew it was still in Idaho (and has sustained a couple accidents). I had guessed the mileage must be well over 200k.
One day at work in 2009, I was waiting for an application to run on my computer, and (as I always do) I started browsing craigslist ads. Of all the cities to search, I clicked Boise for the heck of it. Searched for Acura Legend, and… there it was. It took just one look at the picture, and I knew this was the car. Aftermarket spoiler gave it all away. That spoiler was a gift to my mom on Mother’s Day 1998. The clear corner and bumper lights were things that I added.
I called the number in the craigslist ad. I asked him if he could read me the VIN to the car. When he got halfway through the number, I finished it for him. He couldn’t believe I knew the VIN of the car he had for sale. I told him the long story short about this car and asked him to send me some detailed pictures.
The story got even more interesting. This guy ran a town yard and had only owned the car about a month. The car, as it turns out, was involved in a high speed chase. A police cruiser had to do two pit maneuvers to get the car stopped and arrest the driver. That’s what the quarter panel damage came from. When I shared this story with the my friends at the Legend forums, they started calling this the “Outlaw Legend.”
A friend helped me track down two articles about the police chase:
As officers picked up the suspect vehicle again on Fairview, the decision was made that the driver was placing the public at extreme risk and the decision was made by BPD supervisors to pursue the suspect. Officers pursued the suspect east on Fairview to Five Mile, south on Five Mile, and west on Executive. Executive turns into Pine. At Pine and Eagle Rd, the suspect turned south. Two Boise Police officers used the PIT maneuver to stop the suspect vehicle. The suspect vehicle tried to drive away after the first PIT, so a second officer used the PIT maneuver again which finally stopped the suspect vehicle. Both the officer’s car and the suspect vehicle came to rest on Eagle Rd just south of Pine on the railroad tracks.
These are the pictures I received from Rick at the towing yard. The paint didn’t hold up too well, it appears.
And the next surprise: At some point during the car’s life it got supercharged by Idaho Speed Center! No wonder the police had such a time catching this guy.
The interior had seen better days.
Aftermarket stereo – probably worth more than the car was at that time!
Ouch!
The battery had been relocated to the trunk.
It was rough seeing the car in that kind of shape, especially after how well my family had cared for it back in the day. If it hadn’t been for a steep $1,600 pricetag, I might have picked it back up for sentimental reasons.
According to AutoCheck, as of April 2011 the car was still on the road in Boise because the registration was renewed that month. This means that someone must’ve spent the money to repair the body damage that happened in 2009.
Something tells me I haven’t seen the last of this one. I tried checking with the tow yard just a couple of months ago to see if they’d share any information about where it ended up, but they weren’t cooperative.
I guess it’s only a matter of time until it pops up again.
I picked up a GoPro camera this week so I played around with it on my commute to work this morning. Here is my 10-mile commute (15 minutes) shortened to just a little over 2 minutes. Enjoy!
I’m off to southwestern Colorado in the ILX tomorrow! I parked next to one of my favorite Hondas at lunch today: a 2001 Electron Blue Pearl Honda Prelude SH. Love that color. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!
Red sandstone at dawn is one of my most favorite things ever. This April 2007 picture of my Legend at Snow Canyon State Park in southwest Utah captures some of the beauty that can be observed during that peaceful time of day.
Capitol Reef National Park, September 2006:
Utah Highway 12, approaching Bryce Canyon National Park on Highway 12. I had chrome 16″ OEM wheels on the Legend at the time.
Just a 45 minute drive from my hometown in St. George, Utah lies the mouth of the stunning Zion National Park, established in 1909.
Massive sandstone cliff walls border a narrow canyon with the Virgin River at the base. This has always been one of my favorite road trip destinations. The first time I remember taking my Legend there was on June 13, 2004. This was back when it had 18″ Mille Miglia chrome wheels on it.
Following is a picture I took at the time, when my car had just 140,000 miles on it:
At the time it was completed in 1930, the Zion – Mt. Carmel Tunnel was the longest non-urban tunnel in the United States. It’s a 1.1 mile tunnel with 5 “window” openings that were carved at various intervals through the sandstone rock. This picture from a 1930 issue of Popular Mechanics shows the route taken by the tunnel, which took 3 years to complete.
Stopped at one of the windows / “galleries.” When the tunnel was originally built, cars were allowed to pull out at these openings and enjoy the view.
On June 27, 2005, I took a 1,000-mile “Utah Tour” trip when I rolled through the tunnel at about 3:45 in the morning. About halfway through the tunnel, I stopped the car, shut it off, and turned off my lights. I have never felt such complete and utter darkness and silence as I did at that moment in time. That memory has stuck with me as one of my fondest road trip memories.
Angel’s Landing is not the best hike selection for those afraid of heights. At only 5 miles in distance round-trip, it’s not the distance that’s daunting – it’s the elevation gain of 1,500 feet and treacherous terrain.
During ascent, a series of 21 tight switchbacks are soon followed by a trail that requires chain hand-holds to maintain balance and direction. Huge, sheer drop-offs on either side can give a sense of dizziness. Reaching the final peak at 5,785 feet in elevation requires a great deal of bravery.
View from the top, June 2004. Look at that mop of hair I had (at left in the picture):
I’ve hiked Angel’s Landing three times and it’s felt like a different experience each time. These are pictures from one time I hiked it in October 2010.
The little red ribbon at left in the below picture is the two-lane road at the valley floor, thousands of feet below.
Here’s the last ascent before reaching the summit. No turning back now!
For any looking for an unbelievable national park experience, I highly recommend a trip to Zion!
This week I drove past Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale. This place was home to a bit of a social media disaster this week. If you recognize the name, you’ll know what I’m talking about!
And I also saw the Frank Lloyd Wright spire. This was originally designed to be on the grounds at the Arizona state capitol, but it instead ended up being placed in a shopping center. The spire was designed by Wright in 1957 but wasn’t constructed until 2004. It’s made up of 1,700 individual pieces of steel and it weighs 75 tons!
The spire lights up blue at night so I’ll have to stop back by for another picture sometime soon.
Best part of my commute:
ILX Updates
The 2014 ILX is now on sale as of two days ago. The new model now comes with 8 additional standard features for the base model including the 17″ alloy wheels and an active noise cancellation system. Further refinements to the interior include upgraded leather seating surfaces, door panel trim, and other features. It’s hard to believe it’s already been almost a year since I got my ILX. I’m still loving it!
Some of you have already found me on Instagram. If not, look me up under @tysonhugie.
On June 16, 2009, my Acura Legend made news headlines on the morning program of Phoenix, Arizona’s ABC15 program. Automotive journalist Michael Hagerty had interviewed me a couple of weeks prior regarding a piece he was putting together on vehicles with over 200,000 miles on the odometer. My Legend, with just over 378,000 at the time, qualified. Here’s a picture from our meet-up:
I was lucky that a friend saved a copy of the video, since the article has now expired on ABC15’s website.
In the nearly four years since the clip aired, much has happened. My Legend went on to drive to 500,000, and Michael Hagerty moved on to other career avenues. He’s currently the editor of auto-review site TireKicker. He’s featured my Legend as one of his “TireKicker Time Machines.” (Page Link)
I also recently checked in with Dave Poore, the owner of that 1972 Chevy Impala that was featured in the same video. The Impala, “Archie,” is alive and well. It’s since been wrecked – and totaled (for the second time) – but, as the license plate says, it “STILRNS.” Here’s Dave’s latest report from his email to me:
Archie is still sitting at about 400k. He blew a front tire at 70mph on the 101 in mildly heavy traffic in the middle lane. That was a little scary.
In fact, Dave has even recently used the car in an annual drive called the Cannonball.
Dave has a fun website about his adventures with Archie and the other cars in his stable. Check it out at StillRuns.com.
Now, moving forward to 2013 (and very fitting for this blog), TireKicker just a week or so ago posted an article about the 2013 Acura ILX. Michael discusses some of the pros and cons of Acura’s entry level luxury compact. Check out the write-up here.
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